Thumbs-up for Fontan, USC in Pac-12 opener

LOS ANGELES – Jio Fontan stood at the free-throw line and had few tangible reasons to feel confident.

His left hand restricted by heavy taping, the result of a sprained thumb suffered four days earlier, Fontan owned a field-goal percentage of 29.6 and a free-throw percentage of 73.7. Not exactly inspiring stuff.

Fontan has been through a lot though, not only this season but over the last four years, and the Trojans' senior leader came through when it counted Thursday. He made all four of his free-throw attempts in the final two minutes as USC beat Stanford 71-69 in the Pac-12 Conference opener at Galen Center.

How much did the thumb hurt Fontan? How much did he think about it on the court, down the stretch?

Fontan paused and, through a smile, said, ``No comment.''

USC, which trailed throughout the first half but never by more than nine points, played outstanding defense in the second half. Fontan also contributed greatly to that. In the first half, Stanford made 51.7 percent of its shots, including 7-of-13 from 3-point range. In the second half, Stanford shot 26.7 percent.

''I couldn't ask for more,'' USC coach Kevin O'Neill said of Fontan, who scored a team-high 15 points. ''I thought he controlled the game completely down the stretch.''

Fontan, who missed all of last season with a knee injury and has struggled to find a shooting rhythm this season, made two free throws to give USC a 69-67 lead with 1:51 to play. Stanford's Andy Brown (17 points) then made a layup and got fouled, but missed the ensuing free throw to keep it a 69-69 tie with 26.8 to play.

Fontan then dribbled down the shot clock, drove to the basket and got fouled with 6.9 seconds left. He made both attempts, then USC held its breath. Stanford's Chasson Randle missed a short shot and Dwight Powell missed a follow-up dunk as time expired.

''Let's face it, that should have been a tie game,'' O'Neill said, ''but that's basketball.''

The Trojans (6-8), improbably, are the conference co-leaders for at least two more days, with Cal visiting on Saturday night. Turns out, getting battered by top-25 opponents has its benefits.

USC played by far the most ambitious nonconference schedule among Pac-12 teams, and the Trojans had the scars to prove it. The Trojans are the only Pac-12 team with a record under .500.

Meanwhile, Stanford came in with a 9-4 record but had fattened up a bit on the likes of Alcorn State, Seattle, Denver, UC Davis and Lafayette. The Trojans took their lumps in November and December, but were also coming off a solid overtime victory over Dayton on Sunday, the game in which Fontan got hurt.

Did the nonconference schedule toughen up the Trojans a bit?

''I don't know,'' O'Neill said. ''You'd like to think so, to think that you get your tail kicked a few times and it makes you tougher. ... We were a team with a lot of new guys that didn't get a lot of confidence early, with that schedule we played.''

USC outscored Stanford 38-27 in the second half and the Trojans shot 50.9 percent from the field. They won even though they led the game for a total of less than four minutes. USC used an 13-4 run to take a 53-51 lead on Aaron Fuller's layup with 8:48 remaining in the game.

The Trojans scored more than 70 points for only the second time this season, and they did with improved balance. So often, the Trojans devolve into a perimeter team, despite the fact that they're the only NCAA team with three 7-footers on the roster.

The Trojans' bigs, particularly Dedmon and Omar Oraby, were invisible in the first half as Stanford took a 42-33 lead into the break. Dedmon, in particular, got going in the second half, as he scored all 11 of his points in six minutes of action until he fouled out with 3:15 to go.

USC was also without starter Byron Wesley, who suffered an apparent back injury midway through the second half.